So about a month and a half ago we took on 2 cats from the RSPCA, Alex is quite laid back and friendly, Dennis is really quite scared unless you moved slowly and bent down to him - then he loves all the attention he can get!

Dennis (scared cat) is fine with our indoor cat flap, however Alex (the laid back one) just refuses to use it. You can push him through and he'll go, you can open the cat flap half an inch and he'll go through for food. But whatever we use foodwise, fish, chicken etc, etc Alex will refuse to go through the cat flap without any help. He just doesn't seem to get the idea, even after seeing his 'friend' go through many times for food.
They are now being let outside, but the same thing is happening. Dennis uses the outside cat flap to get in and out but Alex refuses. We let him out of doors and windows and he does his usual cat business, then later on waits for us to let him back in again. If we don't let him out he goes a bit mad in the house as cats do, but doesn't even bother with the outer cat flap. The other night he stayed out all night and was sat waiting to come in the next morning when we got up!

How do we train him to use a cat flap!!?? :help: The main reason is so we no longer have to have a litter tray in the house and he gets his excercise!

I'm afraid that getting him to use the cat flap and getting him to use the garden rather than the litter tray for the loo are two separate issues, so even getting him to use the cat flap is not guaranteed to solve your issues. Anyway- the cat flap bit.

Some cats never take to cat flaps, even if they're introduced early, and I'm afraid that there's little you can do about it. They need to make the link in their heads that not only can they do it, but that they need to go through it to get from inside to outside or vice versa because there's no alternative.

My advice would be to stop stressing about it, get some catnip spray (if he likes it, something else if he doesn't) and spray it on the cat flap and then leave him to it. Continue to open the door for him, but leave it a while when he wants to come in or go out before helping him, just to give him the chance to have a sniff round the cat flap area.

If the cat flap smells nicely of catnip then he's likely to try to paw at it or to rub it with his head. If he presses it with his paw or his forehead then it will of course push open, and from there it's only a matter of time before this becomes normality and fine for him to come through.

What you need to understand is that most cats respond in the total opposite way to how you expect with training. The more you pressurise them to do things the less they will do them, so the most effective way to get them to learn is to back off and let them explore it all for themselves, then praise them madly when they make the discovery.

They also respond to the annoyance and frustration in your body language and voice, and usually they respond negatively, so take a break, stop trying to make it happen and just create the opportunity for him to really impress you by being a clever cat and working it out for himself.

If he's adult then there's a significant chance that he will never decide that cat flaps are something he's prepared to learn about and there's no point in having that level of frustration surrounding him learning for the whole of his life, is there?

If, and only if, he makes the decision that he's prepared to use the cat flap then you can start on the using outside rather than the litter tray, but my lot come in to use the litter tray and always have. That one's even tougher for a cat which is used to the loo being indoors and being able to wee in safety and peace away from all the worrying things that are in the garden.

Hi, use something so the flap is open all the time. Dont take the door off, but have it so it is open and the flap is as out of the way as possible. ( I used some string and put it round the flap and on to the door handle to lift it out of the way).

If he takes to going through it like that, make the string longer and longer, so he get use to it touching his body.

I also find mine wont go through it is not really clean and they can not see the other side.

I wouldn't say we're stressed about this, more just finding it amusing! You should see the look he gives us when his food is on the other side of a closed cat flap! :hihi:

I like the string idea and gradually lowering it, the only problem with this is he could only go through it one way, that or we'd have to constantly change the direction the flap is being held depending on which side he is on! :thumbsup:

Previously they were strays for about 6 months before being owned and then turned out from what we can gather, so not using a litter tray isn't an issue. Since they've been going out the litter tray is being used a whole lot less I'm glad to say!

Our cat will go through it when it is propped open but refuses to even try when it is closed, except once when he had no choice as he was being chased by a dog.

Our cat will go through it when it is propped open but refuses to even try when it is closed, except once when he had no choice as he was being chased by a dog.

Perfect!! Why didn't I think of that before!? Anyone got a dog I can borrow? :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

You need to leave the flap wedged open for some time so they get used to going through the hole. Then eventually they will push it open if it's closed. Ideally you can partially close it, but that's not always possible.

That's that bit. But even when they are used to the flap, they will still use an indoor tray if they have the option. If you want them to go outside you may have to remove the tray.

I can lend you a German Shepherd if you like Beanfeast ;)

The use of a cat-flap is at the absolute limit of a typical cat's IQ.

The use of a cat-flap is at the absolute limit of a typical cat's IQ.

Mine, after reading your post took a moment to nip out and have a pee whilst squatted over the grate, came back in and commented "That Dhimmi has the IQ of a typical dog, the poor fool"

When mine got a flap at about 9 years old and completely un-used to them, I left pieces of ham trapped in the bottom of the door to encourage them...took about a week before they were in and out without a second thought

The use of a cat-flap is at the absolute limit of a typical cat's IQ.

You would love our cat then.

Since we have two rabbits, one lives in my room and the other in the kitchen as he just tried to attack the other one. So we have had to lock the cat flap for going out when he is loose, just in case.

Our cat however lets nothing get in his way, he just learnt how to claw at the flat until it catches on his claw, then lift it up and quickly put his head underneath. Its quite genius and far beyond what most cats seem to be capable of.

It wasn't a huge shock to us though, he also is known to grab us with his claws (curl around your hand, like someone grabbing you with their fingers) and he is very adapt at pulling doors open too. About the only thing he hasn't mastered are door handles, presumably only because he can't reach them.

Currently both cats go through our indoor cat flap without the flap in it, so they are both used to that now. However I'm not taking the litter tray up until they both use the outside flap with a flap in place - otherwise who knows where the yucky stuff will end up!!

The ham and string ideas will be put in place shortly alongside medusa's German Shepherd, I can't lose!! (The cat might though...) :hihi:

Thanks for the tips! :thumbsup: